(revised 09/07/14)

Battle Gear
A few years ago I got caught up in playing an online game World of Warcraft. Amazing what women in their late 40s
will do. It became an addiction but I still saw God in the design. But I digress. My character was a mage, a beautiful
woman that could throw fire or ice at beasts. One of the funner parts of the game was when you got together with other
friends in the game and went after a really bad evil guy made by the creators of the game. In order for the team to take
on the bad guy, you had to put on your Battle Gear. It took lots of gold and plenty of hours in the game to purchase
just the right gear for your character to play at the top of their game. Despite the years I focused on the game, and lost
contact with God, it still taught me a few things. One is that moreso than ever today, we as Christians need Battle Gear.
Here is the list I have compiled for my Armory.
Prayer We are to pray without ceasing. At all times of the day and night I find myself talking to God as if He were
beside me. Sometimes I have to walk to the bank to make a deposit during the workday and I treasure these moments
because God is in nature and I see Him all around me. During these times I talk out loud and Im sure my angels get a
kick out of it (not to mention people looking out of their windows). I also speak to God before bedtime and ask for Bride
Training dreams. When I was very little, my Grandma taught me the Lords Prayer found in Matthew 6:9-13. Our
prayers are to be patterned after this one and you will see that it is a very simple and short prayer. I will admit to not
being a prayer warrior but am grateful to have friends that are. Still, I see prayer as being the #1 piece of Battle Gear in
this war against satan.
Armor of God Ephesians 6:10-17
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand
against the devils schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the
authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and
after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the
breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of
peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil
one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
In the World of Warcraft, you were either a close up fighter, or one far away. My mage was far away because she could
throw things at the beasts. But her armor was more vulnerable because of it. As a mage, she had to rely on friends to
help her. Unlike real life with God, the first sentence of the verses above tells us everything. Be strong in the Lord, not
ourselves, not our friends or spouse, not our country or world. But in God the Creator. Since before Christmas I started
putting on my armor of God each morning before work or starting my day. I dont really read these verses but have my
own prayer and ask Jesus to put them on for me. Ive also written the verse out on recipe cards for each family
member. I believe this is one of the most important pieces of Battle Gear.
Bible We are told the Word of God is your sword in the Armor of God. This is the only offensive weapon you have.
Everything else is defensive. In the game (WoW) you had someone fight the monster up close and that character was
considered the Tank. This character held a shield in one hand to help ward off the blows, yet their other hand carried
an offensive weapon so they could fight. With the armor of God we are a Tankwe have the shield of faith and the
Sword! Gods Word cuts through anything. This is not our word but His. Our words without faith fall flat and the devil
laughs. But Gods Word will take anything down. We should memorize what we can for the times of need to come.
Another of the more important pieces of Battle Gear.

Oil of Joy Sometimes its very hard to have joy. My husband lost his job two weeks ago (2013). If this had happened
last year, I would have freaked out but not anymore. I would like to lose MY job actually. But being human forces me to
be practical and since Jesus wont tell us when He is coming despite our numerous pleas, then I have to keep going to
work. So I Work for the Lord rather than men as the Bible tells us to do. I try to incorporate joy of service that we
have learned those in Heaven practice. I am NOT perfect but each day I try to improve. If I leave the house in a bad
mood (no oil of joy), then I pray in the car and turn on Christian music and that usually helps. I try to keep that flask full
and a spare one in the trunk with my prepper stuff. (Update, hubby got a job within a month of writing this)
Another reason to have the oil of joy, is that we are to show others that we are content in life. Jesus tells us not to ask
to be taken from the trials, but what are we to learn from them. Hey Ive had cancer twice and not just any cancer. Ive
had parts removed and I have so many scars I feel like Frankenstein. You can believe that it took me many years to
thank God for allowing me to have cancer, but thank Him I do!
Communion Matthew 26:27-29
27

Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my
blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit
of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Fathers kingdom.
I take communion every morning, adding it to my armor of God dress code. This is harder than it appears because I must
forgive and know that I have been forgiven of sins, some of which I dont even know Ive committed. But that doesnt
stop me from requesting forgiveness. These past few years have really helped with that because God shows us that He
loves us no matter what weve done. The thief on the cross may not have had one unselfish day in his life, but he
believed Jesus words, and was allowed into Paradise that same day. We have had more time to commune with Jesus, so
I believe more is expected of us. I try not to get myself in situations where I will need to be forgiven. I dont want to
give satan a foothold to mess with me again.
Marking our Thresholds A year ago this idea was foreign to me. But God has told us of the importance of the
symbolism of marking our thresholds with oil. Is it not amazing that weWEpeople living and working in year 2013,
are told to mark our thresholds by GODlike He had those of Moses time.
In being a Watcher, we are learning that satan and his horde have been let loose to cause havoc in the world. I believe
this marking thresholds is very important. There is no magic to how to do it. Initially I grabbed some olive oil and
prayed a short quick prayer over each threshold or area where something from the outside can come in. I only did real
thresholds and internet/cable connections and our vehicles and my employer, but we have other friends who have done
every window in their house and their entire property. When the Jews were building and adding implements to the
Temple, they had to anoint each and every item. So its whatever you feel led to do. Dont make it hard or difficult to
understand. We are simply told to mark our thresholds. I believe we are told to do this so angels can see our homes in
the dark and help defend them. If we believeif we have faith that what we are doing is right, then that faith is added
as Gods light to the oil and it shines forth in the dark. Thats my belief and Im sticking to it.
Mantle - Isaiah 61:3
and provide for those who grieve in Zion to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy
instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
Once again from the WoW, the Cloak was a very important piece that your character would wear. It wasnt
necessarily pretty, in fact you could hide it on your character so the protection was there, but no one could see it. When
you first start out as a new character, the cloak is torn, but as you advance in the game, the cloak can become one of the

more important pieces that you wear. We may not see the covering that God gives us, but its there. We have been told
that we will be protected and have peace in these chaotic days to come. Perhaps we will be issued an invisible mantle
that the evil ones can see, but we cannot.
Singing Lastly I find that singing is very helpful. Its worshipping God for starters, and medically it helps your blood
pressure and emotional stress levels. I think the more we sing, the more we shine. We once again become those
lanterns that are shining out over the world. And satan hates it. So it must be good.
These are the items in my armory for God. If you can add to is, let me know and we will all benefit from it. Keep your
Battle Gear on, maintain it and shine it up each morning! We are almost finished with this race!